


Former Times

by ObjectivelyPink



Series: Tides of Man [4]
Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: 100-1000 Words, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Drama, M/M, POV Third Person, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-06
Updated: 2010-02-06
Packaged: 2017-10-07 02:03:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObjectivelyPink/pseuds/ObjectivelyPink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It occurs to him that a kid as smart as Jim, who taught him to shield in one afternoon and seems to be trying to fit five years of Herald schooling into three, wouldn't find any of this information a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Former Times

**Author's Note:**

> If Star Trek and the Valdemar book series had a magical love child, this story would be it.

Aside from his meeting with the Dean of the Healer’s Collegium that first day, Leonard has had nothing to do with any kind of authority. He doesn’t much like it; back in Peach Tree, you couldn’t go a day without having M’Benga checking to make sure you’d been on task. It makes him feel like this place isn’t very well organized.

But maybe that has something to do with the reappearance of King George’s long lost son-- Leonard doesn’t know.

He does know that there’s only so much sitting around he’s prepared to do.

He takes to wandering the halls, getting a feel for the layout of the Collegium. There’s one entire wing devoted to injured animals, which surprises him at first. Then he notices the large number of Healer Trainees in their pale green and realizes that it’s practical for the Trainees to practice their skills on animals rather than humans.

There are several wings dedicated to the human patients, of course. The Collegium also has its own eating hall, like the Herald’s Collegium, and dormitory style rooms for the Trainees. Leonard’s suite is just one of many intended to house those who’ve passed their apprenticeship and moved on to journeyman or past even that, to master-class.

It’s in one of the ground-floor wings that Leonard gets to do a bit of Healing for the first time, at least in a more-or-less official capacity, when a man falls to the floor and begins to have seizures. Between Leonard and a blonde female Healer, they get the man stabilized.

He actually links mentally with the woman, to use their combined power to burn out the poison the man had evidently imbibed by accident. Leonard rather gets the impression that she had intended to lead the link and not him, but it comes too naturally for him to be able to hold himself in check.

“Well,” she says after it’s done. “That was rather good. Who the hell are you?”

It doesn’t take him long to explain over the lunch that she insists they take, to replenish the energies they’d spent on the poisoned idiot.

When he’s done, they move on to other topics and Leonard is surprised to find that he likes this Healer. Their minds had meshed together in a surprisingly seamless bond. Mentally, they are more compatible than Healers he had worked with in Peach Tree for years. In a quiet corner of his mind, Leonard had marveled at the thought that this link wouldn’t result in a reaction-headache.

“I’m afraid you’re right about it all being disorganized,” says the Healer, who goes by the name of Chapel. “The Dean’s about to retire and it’s got the Healer’s Circle in a tizzy, half wondering what they’ll do without him and the other half jockeying for the chance to take his spot.”

Leonard cocks an eyebrow. “I take it you leave yourself out of both those groups?”

Chapel gives a surprisingly unladylike snort, so at odds from her graceful appearance that Leonard is hard-pressed to smother a chuckle. “I don’t need someone to tell me how to do my job,” she says bluntly. “And politics have no place in a House of Healing, for Haven’s sake, let alone a school.”

Leonard lifts his mug of cider in an ironic toast. “You’ll find no argument with me.”

She smiles and they focus on eating for a few moments. “I don’t think things would be quite as hectic if it weren’t for the new Royal Trainee,” Chapel says thoughtfully. “Everyone’s a-buzz now that he’s come out of hiding.”

“Yeah, about that,” Leonard says. “I don’t think I see what the big deal is.” She blinks at him and Leonard tells her, “Country boy, remember?”

Chapel jabs in his direction with her fork, cooked carrot speared the the end. “Well, you do know _King George Kirk_, don’t you? He was a regular hero of the people; his sacrifice saved hundreds of lives.”

“I got the history lesson, thanks.” Jim must have been a baby when it all happened. Leonard is suddenly struck by the thought of Jim having to hear the story, being told about the invasion, the attempted assassination, the sacrifice that had halted an monumental invasion force in its tracks. How old had Jim been when he was told, a teenager? Younger? Leonard suddenly finds himself lacking all appetite.

He clears his throat. “But the crown passed to his cousin, Christopher. The Queen didn’t take it up?”

“She’s in mourning to this day, as I understand it,” Chapel says quietly. “Lives reclusively in the summer palace.”

“Right. So it’s not in the Kirk branch of the Royal family at all. Why, then, is J- Trainee Kirk a big deal?”

She shrugs. “He’s the only son of a king and a hero. Not to mention that his upbringing has always been shrouded in secrecy, and that adds the allure of mystery. Plus, he’s the oldest Trainee the Herald’s have had for more than three decades, did you know? People are wondering why it took him so long to be Chosen. It’s a combination guaranteed to make people interested.”

Leonard thinks over what she’s told him while Chapel finishes her meal. He leaves his half-finished.

It occurs to him that a kid as smart as Jim, who taught him to shield in one afternoon and seems to be trying to fit five years of Herald schooling into three, wouldn’t find any of this information a surprise.


End file.
